


Office Hours

by ginnekomiko



Series: Tales from the Outrealms [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 19:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20179837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginnekomiko/pseuds/ginnekomiko
Summary: Linhardt (who likes a boy) goes to have a late night office hour with his teacher (who likes girls.)





	Office Hours

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the intro one shot of my Three Houses characters. Yes, I will do a full playthrough fic eventually, but I'm taking it slow because I am in fact, pulling a What Choice? Macgee, and doing one file per house. (I haven't reached the time skip in any file yet, so be kind and don't spoil.) M! MU/Linhardt playthrough will come later, but I already have the character base in mind, obviously.

Linhardt hesitated as he stood outside the door of their professor’s quarters. His clenched fist hovered back and forth. As he moved to knock, the door creaked open.

“Is someone…?”

Her name was Azuki, and she was a mercenary hired by the Officers Academy as a teacher after a particularly notable incident. Princess Edelgard, became visibly animated when she retold the house of their encounter. Everyone in the Black Eagles was very curious about the dashing woman who had saved their princess’s life. 

“Um, Teacher? Is it too late to uh, talk?”

With the door more fully open, he could see the mug of hot coffee in her hand. It had only been a few months since her arrival, but Lady Azuki’s love of coffee was already well-known amongst both staff and students. You couldn’t bribe her with it, though.

She gave a little smile. “Of course not, come on in, and before you ask, I do sleep, this is decaf.”

“Oh, can I… have some then? It smells so good.”

“Sure. You seem like the type that likes cream and sugar, am I right?”

“Just the cream, please, since it’s so late. I… couldn’t really sleep, so I came here.”

“Linhardt, not being able to sleep? That’s a shock!” she took a sip of her coffee before cleared the smatterings of papers across the small table. She motioned for him to sit on the couch. She sat on a chair across from him, placing her drink on a small table. “Do you want to tell me about it? If it’s about nightmares, I can usually help with those. I happen to be an expert at chasing scary monsters away!”

Linhardt smiled a little, feeling the warmth of the mug on his hands. “No, nothing like that. I uh… got carried away and said something I shouldn’t have, and now I’m worried I’ll be teased for it!”

Another sip. “Oh?”

“See, I was talking with Sylvain, and he was teasing me because I’m always spending time with… you know.”

“That cute commoner boy who is always piggybacks you from place to place when you nap for too long? Yeah, I’ve noticed.” She sipped her coffee again. “You’d be late for a lot more of my lectures if he wasn’t so attentive.”

He looked away. “Yeah… I really like him, Teacher!”

She was still smiling. “That’s great! I’m happy for you.”

“Only…”

The moment played over and over again.

_“UNLIKE A CERTAIN SKIRT-CHASER, AT LEAST I’M GOING TO GET LAID!’_

“But I went and said something so stupid! I haven’t even… told him how I feel yet. Let alone that I’m interested in… that…. With him, I mean, not Sylvain.”

“Ah, so I didn’t mishear things in the courtyard today. Interesting. Though, I think you’re exaggerating on your volume level. I swear you were using a more hushed tone when you actually said it.”

“What’s it matter if you still heard me?”

“Want me to talk to my sisters? Rini is stationed at Blue Lions, and I’m sure Faline would _love_ an excuse to pull a good, old-fashioned, harmless prank to help walk the whole thing back.”

Linhardt thought for a moment as he drank. The announcement that Erina, the youngest of the mercenary sisters had been (1) placed in Blue Lion House upon her own choosing, and (2) been hired on as a teacher, had shocked the entire student body for about a whole day until they actually listened to the little girl give a practice lecture.

She _was_ technically Sylvain’s head professor, but she was still only eleven years old, and she probably wouldn’t fully understand the subject matter. Linhardt gulped. He really didn’t want either Prince Dimitri or Dedue on his case if things got awkward with her.

By the sound of it, the Blue Lion house loved their tiny “professor” and were very protective of the fact that she was still a mostly innocent child. For example, her older sisters were very candid about the fact that Professor Erina still had an imaginary friend. Apparently, her name was Sothis.

The little girl was also very capable of getting lost on the campus grounds. It was not uncommon to see her holding hands with one of her students as they led her around. Some of the stronger students would give her piggyback rides if she had a long way to go and they were heading the same way.

Of course, it was easy to say Lady Azuki was equally loved by the students of Black Eagle for her maturity. It was obvious that their teacher was the eldest of the three.

Linhardt paused. “Where is Professor Erina right now? Does she have her own quarters?”

“She shares a room with our dad. She has a little space for her ‘office’ during the day, but no late-night hours; she has to stick to her regular bedtime, you know? Faline is old enough to have her own room, but she’s not actually staff like me and Rini are so she… I don’t know. She hops.” Lady Azuki smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. “Faline’s always just done what she wants.”

So maybe the rumor that the middle sister slept in trees at night was true?

Faline, the self-proclaimed Teacher’s Assistant Extraordinaire, was already dubbed, the “Trickster Goddess of Golden Deer House” by the other students because of a certain noodle incident she’d pulled off specifically because Prince Claude had challenged her to do it. The Golden Deer House ate pasta morning, noon, and night for a whole week after that stunt, but nobody seemed to mind.

If Linhardt went to her for a cover, surely the matter would be forgotten about quickly, but her vengeance might hurt or embarrass Sylvain, and he didn’t want that. He just wanted to forget the whole encounter!

“I know how awkward it can be when it seems like everyone is different than you. I’ve always liked girls, myself, but most of the girls I interacted with only wanted to talk about boys. It broke my little lesbian heart each time when I knew I didn’t have a chance with the ones I crushed on. My house has some real cuties in it, though!”

Linhardt grinned for the first time that night. “Is _that _one of the reasons why you chose the Black Eagle House?”

Lady Azuki smiled warmly again. “Maybe. My goals in life have always been to aim high, do well, and marry a cute and capable girl!” she sipped her coffee. “Black Eagle House has both high-ranking connections _and_ cute girls, who probably have some cute friends, who aren’t my students! If I ever want to stop being a mercenary, I need to get my foot in some fancy doors.”

Oh, poor Edelgard. She would be so sad!

“Why the long face? A teacher should _never_ date a student while they’re teaching them! It’s improper conduct for one, and I’m not a fan of the power imbalance that can come with it. That said, if a _former_ student asked me out after I’d stopped teaching them? Maybe. Of course, I’m only saying that because most of you are actually in my own age bracket. If I was just a normal student here, I could see myself trying to ask a girl or two out. I think that’s the reason why Faline insisted on being an ‘assistant' over a proper instructor. She wants to peruse her own studies and a certain charming boy.”

Never mind! Maybe their princess had a chance with her savior after all!

“Anyway, my advice is to see where it goes. Maybe nobody else even heard you. If you need any of us to step in, we have your back. I can’t guarantee that your relationship with that boy will stay the same after this slip up. It’ll depend on how he feels as well. My door is open if you need me.”

“Thanks, Teacher. I already feel better by just expressing it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

*

A few days later, another boy came into her office. A proud, stupid grin was on his roughed-up face. Azuki knew this boy, “Linhardt’s mule” was his nickname. Lady Rhea had sent him in for counseling after he had punched another student for making rude remarks about Linhardt. It didn’t seem to be connected to their previous chat.

“So, uh, anyway… I was wondering if I could transfer into the Black Eagles? Linhardt’s gone on and on about what a cool teacher you are. And I want to be closer to hi…. history! He says you’re really good at history! It’s my favorite subject!”

Azuki sipped her coffee. Nice try. Looks like she was going to have another student on her hands.


End file.
